Job php-7-site-to-php-8 · revised 9 October 2026
Keep an old PHP website running when your host moves it to PHP 8
Make a custom PHP 7 website that nobody maintains run on PHP 8.3 or newer, tested page by page and form by form on a copy before your host switches.
You might be seeing
- Your host emails that PHP 7 will be switched off on a date
- Pages went blank or show “Fatal error: Uncaught Error” after the host's change
- The contact or booking form stopped sending
- The host's control panel shows the site on PHP 7.x
No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.
What usually happened
The site was written for PHP 7, and the code has not been touched since its developer left. Newer PHP removed functions the code relies on and turns old warnings into fatal errors, so when the host moves the server to PHP 8 the pages and forms the business depends on stop working.
Who it’s for: Owner of a small business website built in custom PHP years ago, whose developer has moved on.
Usually starts when: The host announces it is retiring PHP 7, or switches the server to PHP 8 and pages start failing.
The result: Your site's own code runs on PHP 8.3 or newer: every page and form on the agreed list works on a test copy as it did before, and your host can switch the live site with a tested way back.
Check whether this job fits
Six questions, about two minutes. Your answers stay on this page unless you choose to email them.
Checks you can run yourself
See which PHP version runs now
In your hosting control panel, look for PHP settings, PHP version or MultiPHP Manager.
Look for: The version listed for this site, such as 7.4. Note the newest version your host offers too.
Read the error log
Most control panels have an Errors or Logs page; your host can also send it.
Look for: Lines with “Call to undefined function”. Names such as each, create_function or mysql_connect mean code that newer PHP removed.
What you get
- The updated site files, with a list of every file changed and why
- Before and after results for each agreed page and form
- Steps to switch the live site to the new PHP version, and to switch back
Included
- Making the site's own PHP code run on the target version your host offers, 8.3 or newer
- Replacing functions PHP 8 removed and fixing code that newer PHP treats as an error
- Updating libraries bundled inside the site where a PHP 8 version exists
- Testing each agreed page and form on a copy running the target version
Not included
- WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or other CMS sites
- PHP 5 sites that still use the old mysql database functions
- Redesign, new features or a rewrite in a modern framework
- Moving the site to another host
- Ongoing maintenance or security monitoring
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
On a copy running the target PHP version, every agreed page returns HTTP 200 and shows the same content as on the old version
Evidence: Status and screenshot per page, old and new side by side
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' https://test-copy.your-site/agreed-page.phpEach agreed form submits with test data and does what it did before: sends its email or saves its record
Evidence: Captured email or database row per form
The PHP error log shows no fatal errors and no new warnings for the agreed pages during the test run
Evidence: Log excerpt for the test window
After your host switches the live site, the same pages return HTTP 200
Evidence: Your check, or a status check we run on the public pages
Sign-off. You sign off after the test-copy checks and the named public live-page checks pass following your authorised host’s switch. A tested recovery route must exist before that switch.
If it fails. If the checks don't pass, you don't pay, and you keep the scan results so anyone can continue.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- The site is custom PHP or an old framework, not a CMS such as WordPress
- It runs on PHP 7.0 to 7.4 today, or did until the host switched it
- Your host can give you a full copy of the site's files and database
- You can name the pages and forms the business relies on
We stop and tell you if
- The site still uses PHP 5's mysql functions: that needs its database code rewritten, quoted separately
- Parts of the code are encoded (ionCube or Zend Guard) and have no PHP 8 version
- The site handles card numbers itself instead of sending customers to a payment provider
- No copy of the files and database can be made
What could go wrong
Agree a tested recovery route before any live switch. If the host still permits the old runtime, it may restore the saved files and setting after accounting for new writes. If the old runtime is unavailable, retain a client-controlled recovery environment or another tested supported-runtime release; do not promise a control-panel switch-back that the host cannot provide.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| Changing old code alters behaviour nobody documented | We compare each agreed page and form on the old and new versions side by side before handing over. |
| Testing sends emails to real people or changes real records | We test on a copy with outgoing email captured and use made-up data. |
| The live server differs from the copy in PHP extensions or settings | We match extensions and settings to your host's, and your host can switch back if the live check fails. |
| The database copy contains customer details | It stays in an isolated workspace, is deleted after sign-off, and personal data never goes into our notes. |
A second reviewer checks every change to logins, forms and database code, and the switch-back steps.
How we deliver
We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.
- Restore the copy in an isolated workspace on the old PHP version and record each agreed page and form working
- Scan the site's own code for anything the target PHP version removed or changed
- Fix each finding with the smallest change, and update bundled libraries where a PHP 8 version exists
- Re-run each agreed page and form on the target version and compare with the old version
- Independent review of changes to logins, forms and database code
- Hand over the files, the results and the switch-over and switch-back steps
This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, the total price, a start window and a delivery date before you accept. Work starts only after agreed inputs, secure access, any licences and necessary permissions are in place. Hosting, platform and supplier charges are excluded unless the written quote includes them. No charge or booking is created by an enquiry.
Need to keep it working?
Discuss scheduled runtime compatibility checks before your host changes PHP again.
Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.
Explore an ongoing engineering lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.
What you can check
This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.
Other ways to get this done
- Ask your host how long you can stay on the old version. Some hosts offer extended support for old PHP versions, usually for a fee, which buys time but not security fixes from PHP itself.
- If the site is small and rarely changes, rebuilding it on a site builder may cost less over a few years than keeping old code running.
Questions
Do you need my hosting password?
No. You download a backup from your host and share it with a link you control. Your host or you make the live switch.
My host already switched and the site is broken. What now?
Ask your host to put it back on the old version for a few days; many can. Then we fix and test a copy without the pressure of a broken live site.
Will the site look different afterwards?
No. The job is to keep it working as it does now. Redesign isn't part of it.
How long will the fix last?
Later PHP versions may change things again, so we target the newest version your host offers, and at least 8.3: PHP 8.2 loses security support at the end of 2026.
Start with an email
Send us
- The site's address
- The PHP version it runs now and the one your host wants, with the host's email if they sent one
- Any error message or screenshot, with personal details removed
- The pages and forms that matter most, such as contact, booking or a members' login
- Who built the site and roughly when, if you know
Later, once you agree
- A secret-free source copy and sanitised database fixture through the agreed company-controlled secure handoff
- A test login, if the site has logins
- Your host's staging or a test subdomain, if they offer one
- A company-controlled secure handoff agreed before access: no live passwords, keys, private code or customer records by ordinary email.
You keep the hosting account, domain and live site. We prepare and test the change on an isolated copy. Your authorised host or site holder approves the live switch under an agreed recovery plan; old runtime availability must be checked, not assumed.
Or write to hello@syntheticindustry.ai with “php-7-site-to-php-8” as the subject.